Engine-starter.



W. L. STULLER.

ENGINE STARTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.28,1912.

1,032,516. -P3fienfediuly16, 1912.

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WILLIAM L. STIJ'LLEROF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO GEORGE I W. SOULES, ONE-SIXTH TO EDWARD C. CAMPAU, ONE-SIXTH TO THOMAS R. BELL,

AND ONE-SIXTH TO WILLIAM H. SOULES, ALL OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

ENGINE-STARTER.

insane.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. STULLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Engine-Starters, of

which the following is a specification, refer in convenient proximity to the dashboard of the vehicle, start in motion an air motor and operatively connect it to the fly wheel of the internal combustion engine to impart preliminary impulses to the pistons thereof to in the following description and indicated and thereby start the motor.

The invention has for another object an apparatus of this character in which the parts are so constructed and arranged that the air motor or motors will move slowly in their preliminary action, while shifting the gears and will be subsequently propelled at a maximum speed so as to effectively turn the main crank shaft of the internal combustion engine, for the required purpose. And the invention also aims to generally improve this class of devices and to render them more useful and commercially desirable.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the arrangements and combinations of parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of my invention. Fig. 2 is an end view with the fly wheel of the motor partly broken away. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, the section being taken on the line 33, of Fig. 1, and, Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4, of

glorresponding and like parts are referred Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed'Februaiy 28, 1912. Serial No. 680,452.

Patented July 16, T912.

in the accompanying drawing by like reference characters.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates an air storage tank which may be carried on any suitable part of an automobile or similar vehicle, and 2 designates a supply pipe which is connected to the tank 1 and which is provided, in some convenient proximity to the driver .of the car, with a valve 3 which may be manipulated in any desired way, preferably by hand. The supply pipe 2 opens at one end into a cylinder 4 which is formed with a port 5 leading to a manifold pipe 6, said pipe having its branches in turn leading to the cylinders 7 of a relatively small air motor which is of the four-cylinder type in the present instance. Also operatively connected to the manifold 6 which leads to the cylinder 7 of the air motor, is a pipe 8 which is coupled at one end to the supply pipe 2 intermediate of the ends of the latter and which is formed with a relatively small opening leading into the manifold 6, as by means of a coupling 9, as clearly illustrated in the drawing.

A piston 10 is mounted for reciprocation in the cylinder 4, said piston being connected at one end to a rod 11 which is formed at its forward end with a yoke or sleeve 12 designed to embrace a collar 13 formed on one end of a shiftable pinion 14 mounted on the shaft 15 of the air motor. The pinion 14 is designed for engagement with gear teeth formed on the periphery of the fly wheel 16 of the main internal combustion engine of the vehicle.

17 designates a retrieving spring which is mounted in the cylinder 4 and which is designed to automatically release the gears 14 and 16, when the air pressure back of the piston is no longer applied.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanying drawing, the operation of my improved automatic -starting device for the internal combustion engines of automobile motors and the like will be apparent. In the practical use of the device, when itis desired to start the internal combustion engine, the valve 3 is opened, whereupon the compressed air within the tank 1 will be permitted to flow through the supply pipe 2 and will act upon the piston 10 within the cylinder 4, while, at the same time, a small quantity of the air will pass freely through the pipe 8 and thence to the cylinders 7 of the air motor to start the latter slowly. Under the continued pressure of the air in' the pipe 2 the piston 10 will be moved rearwardly in the cylinder 4 until it reaches a point where the piston will uncover or open the port 5, whereupon, as is manifest, the complete force of the air may be imposed upon the pistons with the cylinder 7 of the air motor and the latter operated at full speed. It is, of course, to be understood that as the piston 10 moves in the cylinder 4 under the influence of the air pressure back of the piston, the yoke or collar 12 will be shifting the gear 14 toward and into mesh with the gear teeth 16 of the fly wheel. Consequently, at the time the port 5 is opened and the full force of the air imposed on the air motor to drive the latter, the teeth of the pinion 14 and fly wheel will be full in mesh with each other and all stripping of the teeth will be avoided. As soon as the air pressure is shut off, the spring 17 will be permitted to act to move the piston 10 back to its initial or normal position, the pinion 11 being thereby moved out of engagement with the gear teeth 16 of the fly wheel. It will thus be seen that the apparatus is a very simple one, and one that will be durable and not liable toget out of order and practically auto matic in all of its actions.

lVhile the accompanying drawing illustrates what I believe to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but that various changes may be made in the construction, arrangements and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. The combination with an internal combustion engine, of an air motor, a cylinder provided with a port adapted to lead into said air motor, a supply pipe leading into said cylinder and provided with a branch of relatively small bore having open communication with the cylinders of the air motor, a piston mounted in said cylinder and adapted to be moved in a direction to uncover the port of the cylinder by the pressure of air in the supply pipe, and means movable with said piston into operative relat-ion with the engine to start the latter.

2. In mechanism of the character described, the combinationvof a main motor provided with a fly wheel, of an air motor, a cylinder having a port adapted to communicate with the air motor, a piston movab e in said cylinder, a rod connected to said piston, the air motor being provided with a drive shaft, a pinion movable on said shaft and operatively connected to said rod whereby it. will be moved by the latter into engagement with the fly wheel to drive the same, a supply pipe leading into the cylinder, a, valve controlling said supply pipe and a branch pipe directly connected to the air motor and between the valve and the cylinder, for the purpose specified.

3. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a main motor provided with a fly wheel, said fly wheel being formed on its periphery with gear teeth, of an air motor having a drive shaft, a'pinion movable on said drive shaft into and out of engagement with the gear teeth of the fly wheel, a rod operatively connected to said pinion to move the same, a cylinder having a port, an air motor to which said port leads, a piston mounted in said cylinder and connected to said rod to move'the same, the piston being adapted, at one point in its movement, to open said port leading to the air motor, a supply pipe leading into the cylinder, a valve carried by said supply pipe, and a by-pass connection from the supply pipe to the air motor between said valve and the cylinder.

4. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a main motor provided with a fly wheel, an air motor provided with a driving shaft, a pinion movable on said shaft into and out of engagement with the fly wheel, a rod operatively connected to said pinion to move the same, a cylinder having a port leading to the air motor, a supply pipe leading into said cylinder, a storage tank connected to the supply pipe, a manually operable valve in said supply pipe, a piston mounted in said cylinder and connected to said rodand adapted to uncover said port, a spring mountedin the cylinder and arranged to return the piston to normal position, and a by-pass connection from the supply pipe to the air motor between the valve and the cylinder.

I11 testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WVILLIAM L. STULLER. lVitnesses ANNIE F. CLARE, Mrs. WV. L. STULLER. 

